APTA 2013 RAIL TRANSIT CONFERENCE
Technical Forums: Traction Power
INNOVATIVE TRACTION ELECTRIFICATION DESIGN FOR
THE PORTLAND STREETCAR LOOP PROJECT
Kinh D. Pham, P.E
Elcon Associates, Inc.
Portland, Oregon
ABSTRACT:
The $148M 3.3 mile Portland Streetcar Loop Project
extends from the Pearl District, across the existing Broadway
Bridge, to serve the eastern half of the Portland Central City.
The project alignment includes 28 new streetcar stops and
crosses the TriMet MAX Light Rail alignment at two
locations. At the Broadway Bridge, the streetcar is grade
separated above the MAX Yellow Line tracks. At Holiday
Street the streetcar crosses the MAX Blue Line at Grand Ave
and MLK Jr. Blvd locations.
Five (5) 300KW traction power substations (TPSSs) are
required per loadflow simulation. To reduce project costs, two
(2) streetcar TPSSs were eliminated by interconnecting the
streetcar OCS with light rail OCS near the two crossings.
Interconnection of the two system rails is also required.
A cost saving of $1M was realized due to the elimination
of two streetcar TPSSs. Several benefits to TriMet light rail
system are also realized due to the interconnection: a)
redundant feed between the MAX Yellow and Blue Lines; b)
better load sharing; c) higher dc system voltage and; d) lower
rail voltage rise.
At the time it was built in 1911, the 1,613 ft Broadway
bridge was the world longest double-leaf bascule bridge.
Overhead conductor rails (OCR) designed by Furrer + Frey
for lift bridge applications are installed on the bridge. OCR
offers several advantages including no messenger wire
required, no contact wire tension, and simplified maintenance.
The OCR attached to the opening span is required to be de-
energized and grounded during bridge opening to ensure safe
operation. The controls and sectionalizing operation are
accomplished through power contactors controlled by PLC.
This paper discusses the streetcar traction electrification
system including TPSS protection & controls, interconnection
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Kai Looijenga
TriMet MAX Light Rail
Portland, Oregon      
and interfacing with TriMet light rail system, and the
Broadway bridge PLC control system.
PORTLAND STREETCAR SYSTEM
DESCRIPTION
The Portland streetcars run on two lines, the North South
(NS) Line and the Central Loop (CL) Line.
The first, the NS Line, is a 4-mile one-way route from
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital at NW 23rd Avenue, on
Lovejoy and Northrup, through the Pearl District and on 10th
and 11th Avenues to SW Mill and SW Market Streets,
Portland State University Urban Center, SW Harrison Street,
RiverPlace, OHSU, the Aerial Tram and to a terminus at SW
Lowell & Bond at the South Waterfront District.
The second, the CL Line, is a 4.5-mile one way route
from SW Market along 10th and 11th to the Pearl District,
across the Broadway Bridge, along Broadway, Weidler, 7th,
MLK and Grand to the Rose Quarter, Lloyd District,
Convention Center, Central Eastside and OMSI. A map of the
Portland Streetcar system is included in the Appendix.
TRACTION POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM
Power to the streetcars is supplied from 300KW pre-
fabricated traction power substations (TPSS) located
approximately 0.5 miles along the streetcar alignment. Each
TPSS receives incoming power from the electric utility
company at either 480VAC or 208VAC, three phase. The
transformer-rectifier unit rated for heavy duty traction
applications utilizes 6-pulse rectification to produce a
nominal dc output voltage of 825Vdc at rated load. This dc
system voltage was selected for compatibility with TriMet
MAX light rail dc system voltage.
TPSS single-line diagram is included in the Appendix.
 A computer loadflow simulation was performed and it Rail bonds are provided between the TriMet MAX light
was confirmed that five (5) 300kW traction power substations rail and the streetcar system to complete the negative return
are required for the Eastside Loop extension. circuits.

The TriMet MAX Light Rail has three traction power

substations in the vicinity of the Portland Streetcar Loop
Extension alignment:

 The Rose Quarter TPSS feeds both the MAX Yellow

line and the Blue line,

 The Graham TPSS feeds the MAX Yellow line only

 The Lloyd TPSS feeds the MAX Blue line only.

It was decided to interconnect the light rail traction power

supply system with the streetcar system to power a portion of
the streetcar loop project.

Two (2) streetcar traction power substations were

eliminated. A cost saving of about $1M was realized for the
Portland streetcar loop project.

LIGHT RAIL - STREETCAR

INTERCONNECTION PLAN
The Portland Streetcar Loop Extension alignment crosses
the TriMet MAX Light Rail alignment at two locations. At
the Broadway Bridge, the Portland Streetcar Loop Extension
is grade separated above the TriMet MAX Light Rail Yellow TriMet Interconnect Station (ICS) at Holladay Street
line tracks. At Holiday Street, track crossings will be installed between 7TH Avenue & Grand Avenue
at Grand Ave and at MLK Jr. Blvd. where the Portland
Streetcar Loop Extension alignment crosses the TriMet MAX
Light Rail Blue line at grade. Non-bridging section insulators,
and insulated rail joints will be installed at these locations. In addition to provide significant cost saving to the
Eastside streetcar Loop project, TriMet MAX light rail system
Interconnection of the streetcar and light rail OCS system also gains a number of benefits from the interconnections
was accomplished using two (2) interconnection station (ICS). including:
Each ICS includes a dc feeder breaker furnished with
overcurrent and rate-of-rise protection (device 150/176), and  Redundant feed between the MAX Yellow line and
automatic reclosing circuit (device 182/183). ICS single line Blue line traction power systems
diagram is included in the Appendix.
 Load sharing between the TriMet Lloyd and Graham
Each ICS is also configured to receive transfer trip signals TPSS.
from the adjacent TriMet MAX TPSSs. This will allow
TriMet to transfer trip the dc breaker at each ICS to disconnect  Reducing voltage drop and power losses on the
the streetcar system in case there is a fault on the TriMet TriMet MAX Light Rail traction power system due to
system. the additional parallel conductors.
The dc breaker at each ICS does not send transfer trip  Lowering rail voltage rise due to the additional rail
signals to adjacent TriMet TPSSs and does not trip TriMet dc cross sectional area.
breakers.

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 temperatures wire sag will result in a height less than 16 feet,
unless span lengths are reduced.

The bridge is supported solely by the rall wheels, which

results in the bridge closing in a variety of locations due to the
influences of temperature, wind and friction on the rall wheels.
The contact wire overlaps will have to allow for these
variables.

When the lift spans are raised, the balance weights lower
to within several feet of the deck. This requires the overhead
contact wire to be moved out of their path. To ensure
personnel safety, the movable sections of the overhead contact
wire will have to be de-energized and grounded.

These design challenges has led to the selection of the

overhead conductor rail system (OCR) for the Broadway
Bridge. The OCR is designed and manufactured by Furrer +
Frey. It consists of an extruded conductor rail into which a
Streetcar approaching the LRT-Streetcar crossing on
Holladay Street

OVERHEAD CONTACT SYSTEM (OCS)

The Eastside streetcar loop utilizes a single contact wire
fixed termination OCS system. The contact wire size is
300kcmil. Two levels of electrical insulation are provided
between contact wire and an OCS pole or other grounded
structure. One level of insulation is at the contact support, and
the second level is adjacent to a structure.

BROADWAY BRIDGE OVERHEAD CONTACT

SYSTEM
The Broadway Bridge structure totals 1,613 feet in length
and consists of three westerly approach Pennsylvania-Petit
Through truss spans of 270 feet, 286 feet and 297 feet, a 278-
foot double-leaf Rall bascule main channel draw span, and one
Pennsylvania-Petit Through truss of 297 feet and one Warren Portland Broadway Bridge
Through truss of 185 feet on the eastern approach.

Built in 1911, the Portland Broadway Bridge was the

world longest double-leaf bascule bridge at the time. The
bascule spans are supported, and guided by rall wheels. As
the span hinges upward, it also rolls back. The weight of each
lift span is balanced by a counterweight (~1,250 tons), which
is located above the roadway.

The Broadway Bridge posed significant design challenges

for the overhead contact system.

The minimum allowed contact wire height is 16’-0”, and

the distance from top-of-rail to bottom of truss is 17’-0”. The
1-foot total space available is insufficient for a conventional
single contact wire fixed termination system. At high

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standard size contact wire is clamped. The OCR is suspended
from gliding supports provided with insulators. The point of
transition from the conventional overhead contact wire to the
overhead conductor rail is equipped with a transition bar,
contact wire anchoring bar and endpoint anchor.

The OCS at the Broadway Bridge has one level of

insulation between the conductor rail and the grounded
structures above the conductor rail to prevent flashover.

This system has several benefits as compared to

conventional overhead contact system. The conductor rail
provides additional current carrying capacity, which means no
messenger wire and/or parallel feeder is required. Also, the
contact wire is not tensioned, which allows significantly
greater wear (80% wear) before wire replacement is required.

The OCS on the Broadway Bridge is sectionalized into

four electrical sections by section insulators installed in the
OCS:

 The eastern lift span will be sectionalized from the

western lift span by insulating runners installed in the
OCS at the toe of the lift spans.

 The approach span at the east end and the eastern lift Overhead Conductor Rail at Broadway
span is powered from the TriMet interconnection
station (ICS) located near NE Interstate Avenue.

 The approach span at the west end and the western

lift span is powered from an existing streetcar TPSS.

 The lift spans are sectionalized from the approach

spans and controlled so that the OCS on the lift spans
is automatically de-energized and grounded when the
bridge opens.

A copy of the sectionalizing diagram is included in the

Appendix.

A movable cable carrier system was installed to provide a

positive and negative traction power cable connection between
the east approach span and the east lift span and between the
west approach span and the west lift span. tender initiates a bridge open command, the DC power
contactor opens to disconnect power to the movable sections,
To move the OCS out of the path of the counterweights, and the motorized grounding switches are closed. This
two sections at each counterweight location are rotated to a enables the movable sections to rotate open, and only after
vertical position, using electric motors. The position of the they are in the fully open position can the bridge lift
moveable sections is controlled by an encoder and its control mechanism be engaged.
system, an Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 70 Variable Frequency
AC Drive. Bridge PLC control block diagram is included in the
Appendix.
Energizing, de-energizing and grounding the movable
sections are accomplished by the use of DC power contactors
controlled by the bridge PLC. Electrical interlock is provided
to prevent grounding an energized line. When the bridge

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 Overhead Conductor Rail Movable

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Kinh D. Pham. P.E. is the Managing Principal and a
Senior Project Manager with Elcon Associates, Inc.,
Consulting Engineers, in Portland, Oregon. He has worked on
various transit projects including heavy rail, light rail,
streetcar, electric trolleybus, and monorail projects since 1981.
Kinh is Elcon principal-in-charge for the Streetcar Loop
Project.

He is a registered professional engineer in Oregon and

nine other states. A senior member of IEEE, Kinh earned his
BSEE and BS Mathematics degrees with honors from Portland
State University (PSU), an MSEE degree from the University
of Portland and did his doctoral studies at PSU. He has co-
authored a text book and authored/co-authored a number of
papers in rail traction electrification.

Kai Looijenga is currently a senior systems engineer with

the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation (TriMet) District.
He has been working at the agency since 1987 and has held
various positions as Journeyman Technician, Training
Supervisor, and Systems Engineer.

Kai was responsible for coordinating all the design

interfaces and the interconnection system design of the MAX
light rail and Portland Streetcar Loop project. Kai was TriMet
traction electrification engineer for the Interstate MAX and
South Corridor I-205 extensions. He is currently working as a
senior systems engineer for the TriMet Portland to Milwaukie
Light Rail Extension scheduled for revenue operation in 2015.

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INNOVATIVE TRACTION ELECTRIFICATION DESIGN FOR THE
PORTLAND STREETCAR LOOP PROJECT
 
 
 
APPENDIX
 Portland Streetcar System Map

 Broadway Bridge Plan & Elevation

 Traction Power Substation Single-line Diagram

 Interconnection Station (ICS) Single-line Diagram

 Sectionalizing Schematics

 Bridge PLC Control Block Diagram